Coastal Safety Group calls for new ‘narrative’ on beach and ocean safety

The Coastal Safety Group has responded to what it calls the "sobering picture" of rising drowning deaths in Australia revealed by the newly released 2025 National Drowning Report.

With the coast one of the worst performing environments (representing 43% of the total), the Report shows that the burden falls overwhelmingly on NSW (with 25 beach drownings) and Queensland (21 beach drownings), with Victoria (11) and Western Australia (15) also recording concerning numbers.

In an essay, Coastal Drowning: Time to Shift the Narrative, Tony Blunden, Secretary/Treasurer of the Coastal Safety Group Inc. highlights findings from the Report 2025 suggesting that last year's drowning deaths "makes a clear case that expanding professional lifeguard services (as) the only proven way to save lives."

The Coastal Safety Group points to the five-year analysis as confirming "what land managers already know"

• Who: The victims are overwhelmingly older Australian men - nearly half over the age of 55, 87% male, and 61% Australian-born.

• Where: 52% of deaths occur on beaches, 16% on rocks, and smaller proportions in coastal pools and off jetties - all locations squarely within the remit of lifeguard services.

• Proximity: Alarmingly, more than 50% of coastal drowning deaths occurred within 5 kilometres of a lifesaving service - a stark reminder that it is not just about remoteness, but about patrol coverage and hours.

• When: 41% of drownings occurred in summer, with another 22% in March and April combined. Nearly half took place between 12–6 pm, the very hours when most Australians are on the beach.

Blunden went on to state "one fact is constant: all drownings occurred at unpatrolled locations, outside of patrol times, or outside the red-and-yellow flags, so we know that lifesaving services work.

"The evidence is clear. Callout services, drones, and remote surveillance do not save lives once someone is already in the water. By the time help arrives, the drowning event has almost always ended - by fatality, self-rescue, or a bystander intervention.

"The cold hard truth is this: if we want to reduce coastal drowning, we need more lifeguards on beaches. Not everywhere, all the time, but targeted to where the data show the risk is highest."

According to Surf Life Saving Australia there are approximately 600 patrolled beaches across Australia.

Coastal Safety Group's 2023/24 Report
The Coastal Safety Group's 2023/24 Report showed that lifeguard services are not only effective but also affordable.

A fully equipped, professional patrol costs around $1,924 per day. Last year the Australian and State Governments invested more than $63.5 million in coastal water safety. That investment could provide 33,000 additional patrol days, the equivalent of 366 additional beaches patrolled all summer.

The Australian Water Safety Strategy has called for empowering local action and collaboration across all levels of government. The CSG strongly supports this call.

Blunden went on to state "it is time to stop repeating the same approaches and expecting different results. Investment in remote surveillance and high-tech rescue gear may have its place, but the evidence shows it is not saving lives on our beaches.

"The solution is simple: put more trained lifeguards where and when Australians actually drown. Land managers must be resourced to expand patrols based on evidence, not politics. Because if we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always got: too many preventable deaths on our coasts."